▲ Interaction with cats can bring people infinite joy. Photo/Visual China
Who lives with us?
Guess what animals are in your house besides you?
Some of them are human "guests" - pets, and some are uninvited guests.
Guests in the audience
There are many kinds of domestic pets, in addition to loyal dogs, cute cats, there are more and more people began to raise "totoro", "hexagonal dinosaurs" and other less common animals. We bring them home from all over the world, where they are accompanied and cared for for for a long time, making them part of our family.
Cats are one of the most common cute pets in urban homes. Their ancestors were wildcats that spread across Eurasia and The African continent.
▲ Your hands are short! Photo/Visual China
Perhaps because humans cultivated crops that attracted a large number of rodents, wildcats hunted rats around humans, and humans domesticated wildcats in order to catch rats. Or maybe it was the self-domestication of wildcats to adapt to their environment, and domestic cats appeared.
The first domestic cats may have appeared in Egypt and Asia Minor, but cat sucking has now become one of the ways for urbanites around the world to relieve stress.
▲ Today, pet cats have been domesticated into a variety of coat colors and body types. Pictured is a Muppet cat. Photo/Visual China
Dogs are one of man's best friends and are the animals we see most often in our daily lives.
The Peking Dog is an ancient aristocratic dog breed in China, which has been bred in the hands of the royal family and the magnates of the court for 4,000 years. The "Jingba Dog" now known in Beijing refers to a small mixed-race pet dog with a Beijing dog bloodline.
▲ Dogs are loyal friends of humans. Photo/Visual China
In addition to cats and dogs, rabbits are also common household pets. The ancestor of the modern domestic rabbit is the wild burrowing rabbit in Europe. Medieval European monks raised them as meat and animals. They are more active at night, relatively less active during the day, and have the habit of nibbling on wood and picking soil.
One of the representatives of Beijing's intangible cultural heritage is The Rabbit, which is said to be the patron saint of peace.
▲ Rabbit. Photo/Visual China
There are also less common pets, such as the Mesai blunt-mouthed salamander. The Western blunt-mouthed salamander is commonly known as the hexagonal dinosaur, because of its cute appearance is very popular on the Internet. The blunt-mouthed salamander has a powerful regenerative ability, and the severed limbs will recover within a few days.
▲ Albino individuals of the American blunt-mouthed salamander. Photo: The Evolution of Life
As a pet, the blunt-mouthed salamander is extremely common, but in its homeland, wild axolotls have become endangered due to habitat destruction.
Less common is also the maned lion lizard. When in danger, the maned lion lizard will bulge its throat, open its mouth, and bluff with short thorns under its neck, like a small lion with a fur, hence the name. They come from desert areas in eastern Australia and love to sunbathe.
▲ A close-up view of the maned lion lizard. Figure/Wikipedia
These lovely animals are our companions and they give us the opportunity to get close to nature. The ideal animal partnership is to accompany each other, never abandon, but also pay attention to the legal and compliant choice of our partners.
freeloader
In addition to our pets, there are sometimes some uninvited guests in the home. Some of them covet the food in the kitchen and camp in the shadows; some look for shelters for the winter, and accidentally hit and bump into our homes; some are quite annoying, sucking blood, destroying things, and harassing our lives.
The most hated tooth itch is probably the mosquito. Many people have complained, "You say it bites people, and it's buzzing and arguing, and you can't sleep well!" ”
▲ Egyptian spotted mosquito, blood-sucking. Figure/Wikipedia
Mosquitoes are also divided into many species. Summer nights linger in people's ears, and the annoying "buzzing" sound is the pale Culex mosquito. In Beijing, more than 90% of people bite people like this mosquito.
▲ A mosquito sucking blood. Figure/Wikipedia
Aedes albopictus, commonly known as the "flower-legged mosquito", is native to Southeast Asia. Its strong vitality and cold resistance have allowed it to successfully invade more than 70 countries. In southern China, the Aedes albopictus mosquito is a nightmare.
Not all mosquitoes are pests. Members of the family Rheumatidae not only do not bite, but are also an important part of the aquatic ecology. Some people specialize in breeding the larvae of the mosquito (also known as the blood red worm), which is an excellent natural food.
▲ Giant mosquitoes, non-blood-sucking mosquitoes. Figure/Wikipedia
Members of the family Macromycephalus also do not bite, and are typical vegetarians, both larvae and adults.
The cut fruit was placed on the table, and soon some flying insects the size of ants could be attracted, which were actually relatives of the flies, the black-bellied fruit fly. Although fruit flies are non-toxic and not as "dirty" as flies, they can still contaminate food.
▲ Drosophila black-bellied is an ideal sample for genetics. Figure/Wikipedia
Fruit flies are annoying, but they are the treasures of scientists and are ideal laboratory animals for genetic research.
In the unclean corner of the kitchen, you can see the German cockroach. This is the cockroach commonly found in our homes, and although it is named Germany, it actually comes from Africa. German cockroaches have invaded all over the country and are a nightmare for many.
▲ Uninvited guests, cockroaches. Photo/Visual China
On the balcony we could probably see angled bugs. Most bugs feed on plant sap, and they do not have their rations in human homes, and they enter human households mostly to avoid cold or stray in. They can smell bad, so don't touch them with your hands!
These creatures sneak into the home when people are not paying attention. They secretly live under the same roof as us and sometimes cause trouble in our lives.
How to treat uninvited guests?
Against cockroaches and mosquitoes, we can use pesticides, but when we see other creatures, we have a different way of dealing with them.
Every year in the middle of summer, at dusk, the "sugar-hungry" scarab beetle appears in the trees and rice paddies. There are very few rice paddies in the city, and if you want to find them, you can take a closer look at the trees around you, and they will bite the leaves to pieces.
▲ Two golden-flowered golden turtles. Figure/Wikipedia
If we can't find them, we can also put the leftover watermelon or cantaloupe peel on the balcony, in the corner of the courtyard, and the "invited" scarab beetle will lie on the peel and suck the syrup of the peel. While they are captivated, they can be gently grabbed.
In the past, children in Beijing always loved to chase the scarab beetle to call "Ke", grabbed the scarab, tied a small string on its legs, and walked a beautiful flying beetle. Don't forget to untie the ropes at night and set them free.
▲ Golden Flower Golden Turtle. Figure/Wikipedia
The most common golden turtles in Beijing are the White Star Flower Golden Turtle and the Patina Golden Turtle, whose common skill is to pretend to be dead.
The adult body of the white star flower golden turtle is bronze or gold bronze, and the back is covered with dots of pattern. Their wings reflect brilliant purples, bronzes and blues in sunlight.
▲ Dung golden turtle. Figure/Wikipedia
The figure of the patina golden turtle is more fat than that of the white star flower golden turtle, the adult insect is copper-green, and the elytra are lighter in color and slightly copper-yellow.
Beautiful scarab beetles are a common material for making insect specimens. The production of specimens is also exquisite, from the collection to the production of specimens time interval is too long, the insect body muscles will stiffen, light touch may lead to tentacles or tarsal joints broken, insect wings and feet can not be intact into the posture we need. So at this time, you need to go back to soft first.
▲ Insect specimens. Photo/Visual China
The so-called softness is to put fine sand in the tank, pour a small amount of alcohol and an appropriate amount of water to stir, and wrap the insect body with cotton and place it on the partition. After a few hours, remove the soft insects from the soft tank.
Next, take the appropriate foam board and start adjusting the posture. Fix the insect specimen with an insect needle, and according to the most correct posture of the insect, make local adjustments to the insect after the needle insertion so that it has the same posture as the living insect. Place the insects in a safe and ventilated place to dry for 1 to 2 weeks, and they will dry completely.
▲ A variety of insects. Photo/Visual China
Finally, put an appropriate amount of moth and anti-mildew agent in the made insect specimen, insert the label and place it in a dry place protected from light. In this way, the insect specimen is completed.
In fact, whether it is the pets that love us or the unpleasant "insect pests", they all bring vitality to the reinforced concrete jungle of the city.
▲ A child who is carefully observing an insect specimen. Photo/Visual China
In today's increasingly urban naturalism, have you noticed that the family is also a good place to observe nature? Let's start by getting to know our animal friends at home and learn their stories.
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Content Source | Urban Nature Story Beijing